


Pappy Rabbit

by Tricksterburd



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Angst, Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tragedy, Violence, War, family love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2013-08-05
Packaged: 2017-11-19 21:54:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tricksterburd/pseuds/Tricksterburd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You have no purpose now Rabbit.  The reason I built you, it's gone now. What are we to do?" Rabbit creaked to his feet. "Pappy?"  Peter didn't respond.  Rabbit quirked his head to the side, digging in his short memory.  </p>
<p>\\Stretched between two trees in the back garden was a banner with the words "WELCOME HOME RABBIT" painted in bold, and under it were about seventy people. "Pappy, you can't go, not again." Peter the third was almost shouting.  "This one's worse this time.  What if you don't come back?!"//</p>
<p>"Because of Thadeus."  Peter the first shook his head, bringing Rabbit out of his thoughts.  "You have a purpose now."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. He's in Africa

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own SPG. This will travel from early days, to current time.

"DELILAH!"  The gathered crowd turned away, trying to ignore the man they had abandoned.  Thadeus struggled through the throng of people to get to the casket.  Peter was the only one to acknowledge the man.  They both, after all, were facing the same hardship.  The woman they loved was dead.  The reason they had lost their friendship, leaving them both hollow and unable to even turn to each other any longer. 

"Delilah!  I will get you back!  Mark my words, I WILL bring you back!"  Peter turned his back this time.  No, the Becile he had once known wasn't there anymore.  Only a man consumed by lust and greed and anger.  There was nothing left there to salvage.

\-----------------

Peter chucked the wrench across the room, where it dinged off a half torn-apart cast iron stove.  Rabbit cowered in the corner, hands over his mismatched eyes as he peeked through his fingers.  He had never seen his creator so angry before.  He had just come home after an "important meeting" where he was dressed all in black and looked very sad indeed.  

Peter breathed heavily, fighting himself to not break down into uncontrolled sobs.  He was calm.  He was composed.  He was okay.

 "Pappy?"  It was Rabbit's voice that did it.  Peter shook his head as he sank onto his work stool, tugging his hair by his ears in frustration.  

"You have no purpose now Rabbit.  The reason I built you, it's gone now. What are we to do?"

Rabbit creaked to his feet, still not having quite figured out how balance worked when rising.  He'd get it eventually.  With long legs he crossed the floor in two strides, poking Peter's arm gently.

"Pappy?"  Peter didn't respond.  Rabbit quirked his head to the side, digging in his short memory.  When he had first powered on he had no idea who, what, where, or why he was.  He had been frightened.  And Peter had done something that, while he hadn't been able to feel it, had calmed him down.

So, Rabbit carefully pulled Peter to his chest, resting his head on his maker's shoulder, and held him close.  Peter clutched the shoulder plates, fighting and losing the battle to keep his wits about him.  It was a very very long night.

\-----------------

"Sir?" A very pregnant maid poked her head into the workshop, Rabbit following her around like a puppy.  Peter took the goggles off his face and dropped them around his neck.  With a smile and a wave he invited Iris into the space.

"Iris, love, we're going to be married in less than a month.  You don't need to call me that anymore."

"I-I'm sorry Peter.  Old habits.  A telegram arrived for you just a moment ago." She held out the paper as Rabbit tried to usher her into a chair.  If it wasn't so annoying, the automaton's doting over her would have been extremely cute and endearing.  At fist it had been.  Peter had told him to take care of Miss Tonia, and to see that he did anything she asked of him.  That was three months ago.  Now it was just a hassle to have a six foot copper shadow that tripped over his own feet all the time.  Just a few more months Iris kept reminding herself.  Just a few more months.

"Iris, darling."

"Hmm?"

"I'm being called to Africa."

"Well that's a silly place to be called to.  Why ever would someone want to send you there?"

"Because of Thadeus."  

"Wasn't he your friend once?"

"Yes, he- He seems to be actually trying what he said."

"Hmm?"

"At Delilah's funeral, he said he would bring her back.  He's in Africa, going after a rock candy mine."

"Now that's just silly."

"No, Iris.  That's where you find Green Matter.  It seems he is attempting to take it over."

"The green matter?"

"Yes.  I.  I'm being called to stop him."

"Well that IS silly.  What do they expect you to do?"

"They want to use my robots."

Both humans turned to Rabbit, who was digging through a cabinet for a blanket for Iris.  At the stopping of conversation he paused and turned around, fearing he had missed something needed of him.  Peter sighed, gazing back at his current project.  The silver and iron robot with smokestacks for a back was almost complete, but would take at least another week before it could be powered on, and another month before it would be calibrated and programed and practiced enough to go to fight.  A gold and brass robot in the corner was little more than a head and torso, and beside that a stove was slowly gaining limbs and a head.

"You can't do this Peter."

Iris was watching him, knowing that look well.  The gears were turning.  

"I have Rabbit.  I have that giraffe.  If Rabbit and I can outfit her to fight, I can do the same with Rabbit.  We'll be back in a month.  Maybe less.  Thadeus isn't in his right mind, how hard can he be to take down?"

Iris leaned back in her chair, surprised slightly by the pillow Rabbit had put behind her without her noticing.  "Famous last words."

\-----------------

"This is a gyroscope.  This is what allows you to balance, see?  Now we have to change the giraffe's to accommodate for the longer legs."  Rabbit watched his Pappy work, trying to store all this new information away for future reference.  Peter had talked about needing help with his siblings once they got back home.  Nothing had filled Rabbit with more pride than knowing that his creator was going to trust him to help make more robots!  

"Here, take the screwdriver, that's right.  Now turn it left.  No Rabbit your other left.  Yes that's good."  Peter watched the gangly, spindly limbs and fingers of his first humanoid robot.  They were awkward, getting in the way.  But they were diligent, trying very hard to do as they were told.  They had been on the ship for only a few days, and would be many more before they reached their destination.  Now was as good a time as any.  

"Rabbit."  The robot didn't stop, but did glance at his father to show he was listening.  "You know what is going to happen to Iris, right?"

"Shore shore Pappy!  She's gonna have some babies."

"That's right.  Before the year is over, you're going to have some human siblings."

"Are dey gonna like me?"

"I'm sure they'll love you Rabbit.  It'll be a while before we find out though.  But, well.  There are some things that are going to have to change around the house."

"Huh?"

"Well.  I should be able to finish The Spine.  The smokestack fellow we're working on?"

"Uh-huh."

"Not too loose Rabbit, go to the right a bit and tighten it up.  Yes that's good.  Now the next screw.  Well, I should have time to finish him before your siblings come about.  But, I may not be able to finish the other robots."

"Why not?"

"I'll be busy with the human siblings.  They're going to require a lot of care."

"An' what about us robutts?"

"I'll have some time, now and then.  But I'm going to be counting on you and him to finish the other robots, okay?  You have to look after each other, just like you're looking after Iris."

"An' th'hoomans?"

"You'll have to look after them too, when Iris and I can't do it by ourselves.  We're human, we have to sleep."

"Sos, like what I'm doin' for Miss Tonia now?"

"Right Rabbit.  Though you do realize the two of us are now married right?"  Rabbit stared at him blankly.  "Right.  Well, call her Iris okay?  Or Ma, if that makes you feel better.  But yes, you need to help me take care of your siblings, both human _and_ robot, when your Ma and I can't."

"Shore Pappy I'll do that.  I-I-I-I'll take great care o'them!"

"Good good.  Now careful of the Blue Matter core there.  The last thing you want to do is rush around Blue Matter."

\-----------------

It was hard, taking down robotic elephants by yourself.  Delilah the giraffe was huge, and very helpful.  But in the end, the elephants were so much larger than Rabbit, and so much stronger.  The Giraffe could pull their attention away long enough to give Rabbit time to attack, but it never seemed to be enough.  

"Three days, that's all it should take.  Look at you!  Big and strong and equipped with everything I can throw at you!"  Peter had said.  That had been ten days ago.  Rabbit would never admit it, but he was in over his head.  One elephant had taken two whole days to bring down, and they were still tearing at the mine, trying to take what they needed.  Peter had been repairing Rabbit as fast as he could, but taking a heavy metal trunk to the spine was never healthy for anyone.  Nor was being cut in half.  

"Just a few more wires Rabbit, you're doing fine."

"Pappy I can' do this."

"Of course you can my boy!  You've already beaten five of them, just two more to go!"

"Pappy I'm tired."

"You're... what?"

"I'm tired.  Mmmmmy leg springs aren' movin' right, I can' keep my boiler full, I'm covered in this green stuff that makes makes makes it hard ta think.  I needta stop."

"Nonsense!  You're doing so well!  The sooner we finish this the sooner we can go home.  Then you can rest the whole way back."

"...Alright."

Rabbit shuddered out a sigh before shoving himself to his feet.  This green stuff that oozed from the elephants was really wearing him down, sticking his springs and cogs together, making everything creak and groan.  He was glad he didn't have what Pappy called "feeling in his limbs."  He didn't want to find out what pain felt like.  

So it was at the elephants again.  Saw running, gun reloaded, flame thrower primed.  He had a job to do.

\-----------------

The last elephant crashed to its knees, Rabbit jumped out of the way in time to not be crushed by its bulk.  Moments later a panel in the creature's head popped open and a fat angry man was seen inside.  Peter was crossing the sand to join Rabbit, no longer afraid of being in the line of fire now that the behemoth was tamed.

"You can't do this Walter!"  Becile called into the winning scientist.  "You can't stop me!"

"Clearly we have!"  Peter shouted back, grinning a fool as Rabbit sank to his knees, clearly running on his last reserves of power.  So Rabbit didn't see it.

He didn't see Thadeus reach for a lever, swinging the elephant's trunk around as one more stand.

But Peter did.

And Peter ran, world narrowed down to just his prized creation, his copper son.

Rabbit was so limp, powerless, that shoving him to the ground didn't take much effort.  The task of shifting a solid metal frame should have taken three men at least.  Rabbit was pushed to the sands.

And the trunk swept Peter off his feet, and sent him soaring through the air.

Rabbit twitched, eyes following the arc of the man as he tried desperately to get to his feet.  He had to get to him, help him, keep him from being hurt!  But he could barely move his legs, his arms were heavy and weighed down with weapons he was unused too.  He was of no use.

\------------------

"Madam, there is someone at the door for you."

"Thank you Jeremy.  Have him wait in the foyer will you?" 

"I believe he is having problems with the steps outside, Miss."

"I see.  I'll be right out then."  The round lady of the house rose from her chair with some difficulty.  Being seven months pregnant did not help one's posture or balance.  Being seven months pregnant with suspected twins does even less.  Making her way to the door the soon-to-be-mother hoped it was who she thought it was.

She wasn't wrong... exactly.  

"M-M-Ma."

"Rabbit!  Darling what happened?"

The automaton looked a mess.  His once clean and pink copper was covered in deep scratches, no longer shining but a dull almost sanded finish.  There was something green stuck in most of his joints, he was hunched over, head hanging low and shoulders drooping.  He looked almost awkward standing on such a clean fresh lawn so early in the morning.

"I can't get get up th'steps."

"Oh you poor dear!  Jeremy, Roger, get a few of the others and help Rabbit into the sitting room will you?  Rabbit what on earth happened?"

"I fought a war.  By myself."  He sounded bitter as four men draped his arms over their shoulders and helped drag him up the five steps to the door.  He insisted that he could walk on his own after that but they continued to support him into the house, through the halls, and dumped him onto the couch. 

"Rabbit, love, where's Peter?"

Rabbit covered his face with those long fingers, very obviously not looking at her.  A slip of ice sunk down her back.

"I- I'm sorry Ma.  I tried, I tried.  I couldn't, but I tried.  I was ssssso tired.  I tried."

"Rabbit.  Rabbit _where's Peter_?!"

The robot shook, nearly bending himself in half.

"I couldn't bring him back."  His voice was soft, raw, quiet.  She could only just hear him.  "He told... he told me t'look afta ya.  An', an' ta keep ya safe."

"Rabbit."  She was shorter than she wanted to be, but she couldn't keep the panic away. " _Where. **Is. Peter**_?"

"He died Ma!"  Rabbi's head snapped up.  There was oil running from his eyes, dripping off his teeth, onto the carpet.  He was shaking, a leaf in the wind.  He'd never seen death before.  "He died!  I wasn't fas-fast enough!  I didn' have hands.  I couldn' do anythin'! An', an' then he.  Ma why did hhhhhe hafta go?!"  

And in that moment Iris wasn't grilling a robot for answers, but watching her son have to deal with watching the death of his father.  A father he had only known for a year.  And she forgot her panic.  And she forgot her anger.  And she pulled him into a hug tighter than was healthy for either of them.  Rabbit clung to her, dissolving into hysterical sobs as he was finally allowed to mourn the loss of his creator.  

"He sttttttttopped talkin' an' then he didn' wake up.  An'th'ship said we couldn' bring him back an' they LEFT HIM THERE!  Ma I tried.  I tried.  But they wouldn' let me.  An' one o'th' solders sw-switched out m'hands.  But it was wasn' useful then, they couldn' help Pappy no more."

"Rabbit.  Where- Where did they put Peter, if they couldn't let you bring him back?"

"Th'giraffe fell apart. Sos they put him unda her head."

Rabbit shook and shivered in her arms, crying out a heart and soul that he didn't even know he had.  She pet his head, holding him to her heart as though her own flesh and blood.  Iris soon joined him, feeling the deep ache of the loss of a man she had loved for many years, though only joined to him for a short while.  Together, they mourned the world they had dreamed, and awaited the world as of yet unknown.


	2. Water, towels, now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It started low, but the glow was just enough to tell Rabbit that he had done it. The core had a faint light, sparks and electric jolts racing through the enclosed gel-like substance like growing tree branches until the whole ball was nothing but a chemical reaction of light. Iris watched from the top of the stairs leading down into the workshop. "Rabbit? Rabbit love, you need to wake up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own SPG. Follow the role play blog that goes along with the story!  
> http://askpappyrabbit.tumblr.com/

Rabbit's long "sleep," it seemed, was much needed.  He powered down in Peter's chair, and stayed that way for almost a week before Iris finally shook his shoulder.  

"Rabbit?  Rabbit love, you need to wake up."

Iris leaned back as Rabbit's boiler kicked on, giving him a few moments to build up some steam.  Soon enough he was moving about, head twitching from side to side as he came online, fingers and wrists shaking life into themselves.  Glowing mismatched eyes finally blinked into existence, and while clearly they were still tired, they were far more alert than when he first came home.

"Ma?"  His voice still sounded weak, worrying Iris greatly.  But she wasn't a mechanic, she wasn't a scientist, she had no idea how to help the poor soul she had come to call "son."

"Rabbit, it's time to wake up.  You've been powered down for a week.  I'm starting to think you'd never power back on."

Rabbit took her hands, pressing his five uneven teeth against her forehead in a kiss.  For a steam powered machine that had been outfitted for war, he could be tender and gentle as a lamb.  She wondered how Peter had done it.

"I'm a'right Ma.  Thanks.  But I gots ta worry about you!  Who's been takin' care a'ya this whole time?!"

"There's a whole house full of... well.  There _was_ a whole house full of people, Rabbit."

"Huh?"

"Rabbit, that's one reason I had to wake you.  Now that it's become obvious to the staff that Pe- That Mister Walter isn't coming home, they've started to leave.  Only Olive and Jeremy are left."

"They've started ta leave us?  But, but they're ya friends!"

"They were Rabbit dear.  It's complicated." "Complicated" of course, meaning that the master of the house had an affair with his head maid, and now SHE was mistress of the house.  Not many friends left after such a scandal.  "Scandal," of course, was what the papers were calling it when they found out that Peter was dead.  They had no idea where he was, or why he was gone.  But someone had flapped their jaws and now the press knew that the famous Peter Alexander Walter had vanished, seemingly overnight, and now his mistress-turned-wife was now claiming to be a widow.  

She just hoped to keep EXACTLY where Peter had gone OUT of the press.  If only for Rabbit's sake.  The poor thing had enough people grabbing him from the limelight he got just for the announcement of his existence.  To be fair, the suddenness of a walking, talking, self-thinking robot was cause for excitement.  But random people Rabbit didn't even know pulling him to ask him to relive watching his father die was too much.

"It doesn't matter."  Iris continued, gripping his hand tightly.  "Right now, I'm going to need your help.  Go get yourself cleaned up, do what you need to do.  Then come on back.  We have babies to plan for.  And I can't do much on my own anymore."

Rabbit nodded, snapping out of his stupor when the need to help and protect Iris came up.  She was family, and he had to protect his family.  Carefully he extracted himself from the couch, bringing himself to his feet as best he could.

"I gotta get this green stuff outta my joints Ma."

"Green Matter."

"Huh?"

"Not 'green stuff' Rabbit.  Green Matter.  You're run off Blue Matter, and you have Green Matter from the elephants."

Rabbit stared at her blankly.  Iris chuckled before shaking it off.

"It doesn't matter dear.  Your father called it green stuff didn't he?"

"Uh-huh."

"And that's where you got it from.  Go clean up dear."  Rabbit blinked at her before making his way to the work shop.  Iris smiled fondly after him.  Oh Peter, using colors to describe abstract concepts and "matters" to the color blind.   
\----------

Iris watched from the top of the stairs leading down into the workshop as Rabbit cleaned the goop out of his joints.  It was strange, seeing this being methodically take himself apart, piece by piece, and scrub his own skin and bones clean from the inside out.  He had started, of all places, with his legs.  Sitting on the table and removing them at the hip, polishing and digging out hunks of green glowing snot and dirt, plucking out small stones and smoothing out any dents they left.  

Then off came the plates on his chest, on his back, even his neck was pulled loose and cleaned, though never taken fully off.  Last came his arms and hands, obviously taking more trouble to do.  But, surely enough, he was taken apart, cleaned, and put back together.  It was slow, painstaking work.  But Iris couldn't help but smile when he walked without a limp, when he could stand tall and proud without stooping with the weight of the world, when he shone polished bright and no longer covered in thick dust and age that he hadn't yet seen.  

Rabbit paused on his way to the door, eyes catching sight of the silver plated face in the corner.  Iris could feel the longing to work on the other robot from where she sat.  She knew Peter had intended Rabbit to work on the others while he was busy with the babies.  Perhaps she'd be alright for a few hours alone after dinner.  Yes.  That sounded like a good idea.

"Ma?"  Oh!  When had Rabbit snuck up on her like that?!  "Let's getgetget ya sumthin' ta eat.  Ya gotta be hungry, it's gettin' late."  He offered a hand to help her up, which she took gratefully.  Once standing, she pulled him into a huge hug, holding his warm metal close.  

"You're such a good boy Rabbit.  My little Rabbit."  

In response, Rabbit held her back as gently as he could.  

\----------

Juggling a very pregnant mother and building a robot was hard work to say the least.  Rabbit wasn't doing too badly though.  He was a robot, he didn't need sleep.  That's what he was firmly telling himself as he tightened the last screw in The Spine's chest.  Once Spine was finished, they could take turns looking after Iris and Rabbit could catch a little rest and all would be well.  And with a little luck, that'd be tonight.

Iris was asleep upstairs in her room.  She hadn't been feeling well all week and had taken to staying in bed rather than wandering around the garden as she normally did.  Rabbit had been there every moment that she'd allow, waiting on her where Jeremy and Olive fell short.  Which sadly enough, was often.  To him anyway.  He was very protective of her, insisting that he could take care of her better than they could, and often chasing them away from the simplest of tasks.

But now she was asleep, and he had time to finish Spine.  

Carefully, with the smallest of movements to be sure he wouldn't drop it, Rabbit removed a globe from Pappy's "Blue Matter" safe.  There were three in there, all of them dark and dull and waiting for that special spark that would light them up and make them alive.  With careful fingers, Rabbit set the glass ball into its cage in the iron and silver robot's chest, and started to plug the wires into their ports.  

Soon enough, all that was left was to bring him to life.  A month of work, struggling to read notes in a language Rabbit didn't understand, piecing together numbers and letters as he taught himself the skill of reading; now it would all come down to lighting the core.  

Snatching up the arc wielder from the rack above the table, Rabbit lowered Pappy's goggles over his eyes and kicked on the generator.  The steam boiler turned the piston, and moments later a great bright light was filling the room from the rods.  He set the spark to a special exposed wire, and waited.

It started low, but the glow was just enough to tell Rabbit that he had done it.  He pulled the arc away, flipping the boiler off again and tossing the goggles away as he crouched and watched.  The core had a faint light, sparks and electric jolts racing through the enclosed gel-like substance like growing tree branches until the whole ball was nothing but a chemical reaction of light.  It swirled and danced and old eaten gel was quickly being turned into a new energy source.  Self replenishing Blue Matter.  Whatever was used up was churned by the movement of power and recreated into fuel once more.  

Within minutes the core was self-sustaining and humming quietly.  Rabbit plucked out the wire that he had used to start the core, plugging the hole before anything leaked, and flipping the switch that would send power from the core to the circuitry brain and boiler heating coils.  Exactly two minutes and thirteen seconds later, steam puffed from The Spine's smokestack spines, and his eyes flickered to life.  

Rabbit let out a whoop of joy!  He had done it!  He had finished and powered on his brother!  Laughing at himself for his excitement the copper robot snapped Spine's chest closed, giving him a pat on the shoulder before calming down enough to touch the silver nose.

"Well, what do ya have ta say for yourself huh?  Welcome Th'Spine!"

The robot stared, passive face unmoving.  Rabbit tilted his head, waving his hand in front of the glowing photoreceptors.  

"Th'Spine?  Hey there buddy, speak up yeah?"

No answer.  Spine didn't move.  He didn't blink.  Rabbit felt his world crumble for the second time in just as many months.  

"Spine?  Hey.  Say sumthin'."  Nothing.

Rabbit snatched up the plans from the table, scanning them with frantic eyes.  Why wasn't Spine moving?  He had moved right away, gasping his first breath and clutching at Peter, frightened and without answers.  True, Spine didn't have bellows, so he couldn't breathe.  But he could move couldn't he?

Rabbit went back to The Spine, touching his face again.  

"Spine can ya hear me?  Ya there?  Comeon say sumthin'!"  Then he pulled his younger brother into a hug, holding him tight as oil began to well in his eyes.  "Come on don't sc-scare me like this!  Come on, wake up!"  

Panic began to clutch at his core, making him shiver.  He had messed up.  He had done something, and now Spine didn't work.  Pulling away he searched Spine's eyes, hoping for something to happen.  

"Sir?"  Rabbit jumped a foot in the air as Jeremy's voice rang from the open door.  

"Huh?"

"Sir, Madam requires your attention."

"Can, uh.  Can ya handle it f'a moment?  I'm kinda, I'm kinda stuck."

"No sir.  Olive is with her now.  She's in the front sitting room."  That grabbed Rabbit's attention.  Letting go of Spine, Rabbit started up the stairs to the main house.

"Why's she there?"

"I believe her water has broken, sir."

Rabbit was running.

\----------

"Ma!"  It didn't take long for Rabbit to find Iris.  She was screaming rather loudly.  She lay on the sofa, her nightgown soaked through with sweat and fluid.  Olive was at her side with a bowl of cool water and a cloth.  Kneeling at her head Rabbit touched her hair and pressed his teeth to her forehead in a kiss.

"Rabbit, darling."

"What ya doin' down here?"  

"I felt it.  And I had Jeremy pull the carriage around, trying to get into town."

"Ya shoulda sent f'me!  I coulda carried ya!"

"You were working on The Spine darling, I know how important he is to you."

"No, Ma, no.  I mean, yeah, but no.  You first.  Always you first.  Let's get ya ta town an'-"

"Rabbit.  I can't make it to town."

Rabbit thought for a long, hard moment.  Then he turned and pointed to Jeremy, the last manservant still within the manor.  

"Get the doctor."

Jeremy scampered off without a word more.  

Rabbit then turned to Olive, who looked pale and ill.

"Water, towels, now."

The girl nodded and ran.  For a kitchen maid she was hold up rather well.  Gripping Iris' hand, Rabbit watched as a wave of pain took over her senses.  She had told him when the babies were due.  Showed him on a grid when they would be coming.  If he counted right, something she had helped him with, they were three weeks too soon.  

"Ma, they can' come yet.  Ya tol' me they would come next month."

"I know Rabbit dear, I know.  But they had other plans it seems."

"Here's the water sir!"  Olive jogged back into the room, steaming water in a bowl with towels.  Rabbit took them, eying Olive curiously.

"What d'ya know about babies?"

"Not much sir."

"Can we do this?"

"I- I don't know.  A doctor would be best."

"Ya think he'll come in time?"

Olive didn't have an answer.  

\----------

The doctor, it turns out, did come in time.  Narrowly.  Rabbit never wanted to hear a woman scream like that ever again.  And never Iris.  His poor mother was sobbing into his shoulder as she crushed his metal hand, the automaton supporting her and helping her sit upright as the town doctor tried his best to coach her through.  Already every towel in the house and two blankets were cast to the side, soaked with water and blood.  

"Rabbit, my sweet Rabbit.  I'm tired love."

"It's okay Ma.  You're almost done!  Just a bit more I swear!  You're doin' good Ma."

"Alright Iris, once more."

Rabbit wished he had ears to cover when she let loose a scream once more, arching her back and crying out in pain that took his own breath away.  He kissed her head the only way he knew how, pressing those teeth to her sweat soaked hair as she collapsed boneless against his chest once again.  From the other end of the sofa, a soft cry broke the air.  

Iris laughed; it was breathy and tired, but it was a laugh.  Alive.  Her child was alive.  

"Peter."  She whispered to Rabbit, grinning at her eldest son.  "Name him after his father."

"How d'ya know it's a boy?"  He asked, glancing at the doctor who was studying Iris and ignoring all else around him, having passed off the child to Olive.  

"A mother knows these things darling.  Hold onto me Rabbit."  He did as he was bid, clutching her as she was thrown into another wave of pain.  

"Twins I see."  The doctor commented, shouting over her.  "You're doing fine Iris, I have the head!"

"Also Peter."  Iris whispered to Rabbit, her second son being pushed into Olive's arms without a second thought not long after.  "Peter the second, and Peter the third.  Don't let them fight too much Rabbit.  Okay?"

"Ma?"

"You're such a good boy Rabbit.  My little Rabbit."  

"I can't get the bleeding to stop!"  

"My little Rabbit."

"Ma?  Ma wait hold on no!"

\----------

Rabbit stood in the center of the workshop, gazing hopelessly at the unmoving robot across the room.  In Rabbit's arms, two tiny bundles of skin and bone were huddled close to his chest, fussing and whining at the cool air of the manor they had been born in.

Taking his eyes from The Spine, Rabbit shifted Peter the Second a bit higher, supporting his head the way the doctor had shown him.  Olive had claimed to be getting more water and had left the room shortly after Iris passed.  The kitchen maid never came back.  

Upstairs, laying cold and covered in her bed, Iris waited for the morning.  Come sun up, Jeremy would go into town to return the doctor, and fetch the undertaker.  She would be buried in the back garden, by the old oak and the duck pond, as soon as arrangements could be made.  

In the mean time, Rabbit had two tiny humans in his arms.  Two human brothers who now had no father, no mother... and their other brother who was powered on only hours before they came into the world was a lump of lifeless metal on a table.  

Rabbit sank into the chair in the corner of the room, bouncing the twins lightly to settle them the way the doctor had shown him to.  They continued to fuss anyway.  They were hungry.  Fat drops of oil fell from Rabbit's eyes as he tucked his knees up to help hold the boys, bringing his fingers to their mouths so they could at least suck on something.  He had no food for them.  Their mother was dead, they couldn't nurse from her.  He had no milk, could barely get water for himself let alone them, couldn't figure out how to keep this family from falling apart when he was having trouble keeping himself in once piece.  

"What am I gonna do Pappy?  I gotta keep 'em safe.  But I couldn' keep Ma safe for ya.  How can I keep th'twins safe?  Pappy, I need ya help!"

The only answer Rabbit got was the soft coos and hums of two tiny twin boys slowly falling asleep in their big brother's arms.  


	3. Children of the harlot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next morning, Jeremy came back from returning the doctor. As expected, he was not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise at the end! As always, I don't own SPG. Just the OC's inside.

The next morning, Jeremy came back from returning the doctor.  As expected, he was not alone.  But he wasn't as accompanied as Rabbit had expected.  Sure enough, there was a tall, thin man in a top hat and morning coat, measuring tape and fabric samples in his case.  Jeremy lead him upstairs without too much comment.

His other "companion" however, was a very prim and proper lady, perhaps about four and a half feet tall, and nearing about sixty years in age.  Her black hair was striped with grey below her hat.  Rabbit greeted all the humans at the door, anxious for the only living human adult in the house to tell him everything would be okay.  Jeremy did nothing of the sort, leaving Rabbit to deal with the elderly woman.

She eyed him, curiously, before welcoming herself into the house and taking up a seat in the parlor.

"I will await the master of the house.  Go fetch him."

"Uh.  There ain't no master o'th'house?"

"Well of course there is.  If there are people living here then there must be a master of the house."

"But, Pappy died."

The woman stared hard at him once more.

"Are these the children of the harlot?" Her nose was almost so far into the air Rabbit could almost see the hair inside.  Rabbit could feel irritation building up rather hard, steam puffing from his back as he took a seat across from her and jiggled the twins a bit some more.

"They're Peter th'second an'third.  Pappy, he.  Pappy died a bit ago, an Ma did las'night."

"I was told a maid had died and that I was to take her bastard sons."

Steam shot from Rabbit's vents, eyes blazing.

"Get out."

"Excuse you?"

"These are my brothers!"

She started to laugh, clearly unimpressed.

"You are a contraption.  I am here to take the children to the orphange."

"An' what happens to 'em there."

"They might become adopted by someone."

"Then I'll adopt 'em."

"Preposterous."

"Get out."

"I beg your pard-"

"GET OUT!" Rabbit is un-hunched now, standing to his full six foot eight eight as steam billowed from every crack and joint he had."Get out of my house! These are my family, how DARE YOU! OUT! GET **_OUT_**!"

The woman fled, terrified by the sight of the seemingly possessed robot.  An anger never before felt coursed through Rabbit's frame, making him shake and sputter in rage.  The twins awoke, screaming and crying at the sudden noise filling their world.  In an instant, Rabbit shrank back in on himself, becoming a more manageable six foot two as he pulled the children closer to his chest, nuzzling them with the nose he didn't have. 

"Shh, shhhhh, 'sokay, 'sokay, Rabbit didn' mean ta frighten ya.  Shhhhh shhhhh." He sat in the creaky chair, offering his fingers for them to suckle once again.  They needed to eat, and soon.  But he had nothing to give them. 

\----------

"Where is Madam Gringridge?" Jeremy came down the stairs not long after, undertaker still in tow.  Rabbit didn't even look up.  How could he bring that horrible woman here?!

"Outside.  Germy." The butler paused, nodding to the guest to continue to the carriage outside before attending to Rabbit."What do babies eat?"

"Milk, sir."

"When ya come back, bring some.  An', an' someone who knows what ta do wif babies."

"That was what Ms.  Gringridge was here to do."

"She was here ta take 'em, not take care'o 'em.  Bring me someone who won' take'em."

"As you wish."

"An' when ya are in town, find Mista Munchin.  He should be in th' Cavalcadium buildin'.  Tell 'im 'Walter's steam man miracle' needs ta see 'im." Jeremy nodded, retrieving his scarf and gloves before leaving once more.

\----------

"Nice place you have here.  Don't think I ever tricked ina mansion before."

"I will not tell you again, that is _not_ what you are here for."

"Really, Jeremy, I have known you for years.  Why on earth is this whore invited to the manor, I thought you above such things."

"Rubdguard, I have no interest in this woman in the slightest.  She's here for a task for masters Peter and Peter."

"Germy, is that you?"

Jeremy, Rubdguard Munchin, and a woman were greeted by a copper robot rocking two infants in his arms at the top of the front steps.  Munchin was the first to react.

"Rabbit! My dear boy, how are you getting on? I heard the terrible news about Peter, such a shame, to die so far from home.  How are you and Iris getting along hmm?"

"Hia Mista Munchin.  Can, can I talk ta ya, in Pappy's study?"

"Of course lad! I'll invite myself in shall I?" The plump, squat man chuckled at his own joke, wandering into the house to find a comfortable seat and the good brandy.  Rabbit's attention then turned to the new woman who was staring with wide eyes and open mouth.

"Germy, who's dis?"

"You asked me to bring someone who could feed the twins, did you not?"

"Yeah, but who's-"

"This is Miz Sandra.  She will act as their wet nurse."

"Excuse me!"

"Oh do hush woman, why else would I ask about town for a woman of your...  stature?"

"I'll ignore that slight.  That's a robot."

Rabbit, by this time, had made it down the steps and was walking circles around her, examining her from every angle. 

"Ya can feed Peter an' Peter?"

"What?"

"Ma died.  An' I can' feed 'em, an'they're hungry."

"I.  What."

"What he means." Jeremy cut in, cold eyes avoiding both of them."Is that you were brought here, as hired help, to feed the children Peters the second and third.  I was informed that you recently had a child, and would be able to act as their wet nurse."

"Ah.  Dem rich wealthy types can't be assed enough to feed their own kids now hmm?"

"Ma's dead." Rabbit was quiet, gazing at his feet as the infants fussed again.  The woman's snide look faded. 

"Oh.  Well, sure honey, I can feed 'em." Sandra wasn't sure what made her agree to it, not after the way the butler treated her on the ride over.  But that sad voice, the hopeless glowing eyes.  She couldn't tell him no.  So she let the robot lead her inside, and set her on the sofa in the sitting room, and didn't even eye the silver on the mantle.  Then she reached out for the twins.

"Here, I'll feed them.  You have to talk to that fat marble don't you?"

"Huh?"

"The other man that came with us?"

"Oh yeah! I'll b-be right back, Mizzy."

Rabbit turned on his heel and headed out quickly, not seeing Sandra's head shake as she settled the children in her lap.  Such tiny little things.  How did they survive the night?

In the study, Munchin had seated himself comfortably behind Peter's desk, helping himself to the brandy.  He could get used to this, he really could.  Being head of the Cavalcadium had its perks, but it was nothing to being the genius Peter A.  Walter.  Sitting up when the door opened, the portly man relaxed once more when he saw Rabbit enter and close the door behind him.

"Well, what was I brought here for this fine day hmm?"

Rabbit eyed him, not liking where he was sitting.  That was _Pappy's_ seat.  But he needed this man, best to be a good host.  So he took a seat across from him, forcing himself not to play with his fingers.

"I need ya help.  There wasa lady that came here, taday.  Ta take Peter an' Peter from me."

"Understandable."

"Unacceptable."

Rubdguard froze.  What?"

"Excuse me?"

"I can' let that happen.  She tol' me they was gonna be taken an' given ta sum otha family.  I'm guessin' ya gots at be a person ta adopt, right?"

"Correct, as far as I know.  I haven't exactly adopted children."

"I need ta become a person."

"E-excuse me?"

"You heard me."

He had never in his _life_ heard a robot speak with such firm emotion.  Peter's finest work, rest assured. 

"I don't know if that's possible."

"What do I need ta do ta make it possible?"

"I.  I don't know.  Blacks were only recently made people, you think a robot would too?"

"How many o'us are there?"

"Not many."

"Then I don' see how it'd be an issue."

"Alright, alright.  I'll look into it and see what I can do for you."

"No."

"What?"

"Ya don' undastand.  It _will_ happen.  Not if, not maybe, not some day.  Within a year."

"A year?!"

"I'm not waitin' until Peter an' Peter are adults ta have 'em live in their own home."

"Right.  Of course." Rabbit's eyes were blazing so brightly, Rubdguard couldn't meet them if he wanted too."I'll talk to the Cav's legal team."

"Good.  Look forward ta hearin' from ya." Rabbit rose, opening the door and holding it for Rubdguard.  The man skittered out fairly quickly.  By the time Rabbit made it back down the steps, Jeremy was already taking him back to town.  Sandra, on the other hand, was feeding Peter the third. 

Rabbit sat across from her, watching curiously.  The things humans could do that he could not! Sitting quietly, venting steam in small puffs now and then, he watched with questions bubbling about his brain.  Sandra seemed to notice.

"The first one is full.  Healthy appetites they have."

"Git it from their Pappy."

"I see.  Could you...  maybe...  turn away?"

"Huh?"

"You're staring."

"OH! Sorry." Rabbit turned, steam now spouting in embarrassment.  Sandra gave a soft chuckle.  What a strange creature.  Just then Peter the second started to fuss.  Instantly Rabbit was up, scooping the infant into his arms before Sandra could even move. 

"Shhh, shhhh.  'Salright.  Rabbit's here.  No one's gonna take ya." He bounced Two lightly, unsure of what to do.  Patting the sofa cushion beside her, the Lady for Hire invited him closer. 

"He needs to be patted.  Here, hold him over your shoulder.  Just like that, yeah.  Now pat his back.  Right.  Good!"

"Miz, are ya gonna stay an' help me wif my brovers?"

"I-.  I don' know yet."

"I hope ya do.  I like ya."

"Already?! I just got here!"

"You're th'first ta help me wifout tryin' ta take 'em."

Oh.  Sandra looked back to her work, finding Three was now fully fed and ready to sleep.  Such funny things.

"What's your name?"

"Rabbit.  Rabbit Walter.  Yours?"

"Sandra.  Sandra Reed."


	4. The Final Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sandra pulled a face. She knew why the hired helped disliked her. The fact that, already, Sandra hopped between "thing" and "it" to "he" and "Rabbit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own SPG. Just the OC's inside.

Sandra, it seemed, enjoyed wandering the house.  She had never lived somewhere so big, so plush, so warm.  Jeremy said nothing of it, though Rabbit caught his disapproving looks now and again.  He never entirely understood why.  Was there something about Sandra he didn't like?  
  
"Sandra?"  Rabbit was holding Three, the boy having just eaten and was now being put back into his care.  (That was their agreement, she wasn't going to be their nanny, she was just going to feed them.  She couldn't be there forever after all.)  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"What's Germy got against ya?"  
  
Sandra pulled a face.  She knew why the hired helped disliked her.  She was a whore.  Simple as that.  But she couldn't really tell that to Rabbit.  The thing was young, stressed.  He wouldn't understand.  
  
The fact that, already, Sandra hopped between "thing" and "it" to "he" and "Rabbit" escaped her.  
  
"I'm an outsida.  Tha's all."  
  
"Oh."  
  
The robot's head turned back to the door downstairs.  Sandra didn't miss that.  She knew.  She knew he wanted to go back down, and work on that other robot.  The silver one, or the gold one, whichever was the flavor of the day.   
  
"I'm not sittin' 'em."  
  
"Huh?"  His attention came back to her, as she finished with Two and handed him over.  "Oh, right right.  Uh.  I'll find ya f'their next feedin', a'right?"  
  
"That's fine.  Just make sure you do that before they start crying."  
  
"Yep yep!"  He was up and trotting back down the steps.  Sandra shook her head.  He was setting himself up to fail, she just knew it.   
  
In the workshop, Rabbit gently placed the twins down for their naps.  Both were already nodding off, now that they had been fed.  He put each down in turn, covered them with their own blankets, and drew the curtain across their corner.  Sandra had scolded him when she found out he was wielding and the boy's weren't protected from it.  
  
"Hiya Spine!  Feelin' any betta?"  He asked as he returned to his worktable.  The Spine sat on the bench next to an almost completed golden robot.  He did not move, he did not blink, he did not respond.  Rabbit sighed, his posture falling.  God he hoped he could fix that soon.  
  
He had given up on fixing Spine for the moment.  He had given a good deal of time already, and there were other automatons that needed to be created.  He hoped that in building this one from pretty much the ground up, instead of just finishing what Pappy had almost completed, that he'd figure out what was wrong.  Or, that they'd help him figure it out.  
  
"Right.  Th'flag thingy goes inta th', um.  Inta this slot here.  Y-y-yep!"  He still couldn't read.  He was trying.  And he needed to learn how.  Munchin had finally gotten back to him, and given him a list of criteria as to what he had to perform in front of a court of judges.  And he had to do it himself.  No one could program him, no one could teach him.  He had to do it himself.  
  
So he was learning to read and count.  And it was hard.

"There!  Now ya just n-need a core!"  He stepped back from the golden robot, proud.  Four months since coming home, and the head and spine that had been sitting on the bench was now a full robot, only missing a core.   
  
He was boxy, crude.  But he was in once piece.  Rabbit had tried his best.  It wasn't the fine lines and gentle swirls that Peter had designed, but Rabbit had to work with what he was able to do.  He was proud of what he had created.  So he set to work bringing him to life.  
  
He went to the safe, and pulled up the core his father had created for this 'bot.  It was dead, and dark.  But so was Spine's, and so was his, before it had been brought to life.  It just took a spark.  So Rabbit set it into the cage inside the brass and gold chest, setting it tight and wiring it together.  Then he pulled down his goggles, put a set of goggles over Spine's eyes (just in case) and kicked the arc wielder into life.  
  
He passed the spark over the exposed wire.  
  
And nothing happened.

He lifted his goggles, confused.  Why didn't it work? It worked for Spine.  Goggles back, he tried again.  And again.  Huh.  He put the arc aside, and inspected the core.  No, everything looked right.  Didn't it? He crossed to a mirror, and popped open his own chest.  
  
No.  It looked right.  That's how he was wired up.  Everything was set the way it was supposed to.  Closing back up, he went to inspect the quiet core again.  Weird.  It was like the live wire didn't put the power into the core.  Maybe, if he upped it? Turned the voltage up, made it stronger? Sure, that might work!   
  
So he went back to the arc, and played with the dial.  Goggles, spark, and set.   
  
Nothing.   
  
With a growl, he turned the dial as high as it would go.  He wanted this core to light up now!  Right now!   
  
And passed a spark over the wire.  
  
The reaction was immediate.  The core began to glow so brightly, it blinded him through his goggles.  He dropped the wielder, and stumbled back in fright!  What had he done?!   
  
The core went black, then bright once more.  This time, something was moving behind it.  Rabbit squinted, and thought the world was ending.  A void, of some sort, was swirling behind the core.  And was starting to swallow up the glass ball.  
  
Rabbit ran forward, and grabbed the core before it could be sucked too far into the void.  No, no he wasn't going to lose this!  The blackness tugged and pulled, angry at being denied its prize.  It yanked.  And keeping one hand on the cage around the core, Rabbit grabbed the robot's chest edge to keep himself from falling in.  
  
There was a sound of twisting, tearing metal, and Rabbit planted his feet on the bench to lever himself out of the void.  Suddenly, without warning, a wrench flew off the bench into the void.  And hit the core.   
  
There was a blinding flash of light, a sound so deafening that Rabbit lost all sense of where he was, and white hot...  
  
Pain.   
  
That was _pain_.  
  
Rabbit screamed, and was flung from the automaton's chest.  Across the room, where he crashed into the wall, and blacked out.  
  
————————-  
  
"Rabbit!  Rabbit wake up!"  Her voice was faint, hidden behind a tinny sort of ringing.  Rabbit was dragged from his unconscious state, and into a world of confusion and pain.  
  
Oh god.  Pain.  
  
His right arm was on fire, his left leg too.  It was like they were being melted down while he was alive and awake, and he could feel it.  Feel.  Wait, since when?!  His eyes snapped open, and he found Sandra above him, fear in her face.  She was speaking, but he couldn't really hear her.  It was as though she was far away, and faint.  He was confused.  What was happening?  
  
"Come on, up!"  He heard that.  And so he tried.  He sat up, and screamed.  
  
Oh god, his leg!  His arm!  Pain, this was PAIN and it was NOT OKAY!  
  
She had backed up, afraid.  Rabbit clenched his eyes tight, and forced several gulps of air into his bellows.  White, hot, _agony_.  It took a few more moments before he could look at the damage.  
  
His left leg was dented in several places.  A telling of it being the first to hit the wall when he was thrown, and the ground when he fell.  His knee joint was badly twisted, and wouldn't work any longer.  His right arm was no better.  The metal of his arm was ripped and torn in places.  His fingers were bent and twisted, totally unusable.  The elbow was held together by a single wire.   
  
Useless.  Totally useless.  
  
"What happened?"  Sandra was speaking again.  He looked at her with blurry optics, trying not to fall into emergency stasis again.  His head hurt. He must have hit it pretty bad.  He could hear her through only one ear, and it was hard to do so over the ringing.   
  
"'Sploded.  Th'core.  It.  Oh.  No."  He fought to his feet, a hard bellow of pain, new and confusing, as his weight rested on his bad leg, and his arm fell to his side.  The metal pipes, oh god, they had been ripped right open...  
  
He pushed through it, and went to the gold robot.  No.  All that work, please.  No.   
  
No?  
  
The core.  It was...  
  
It was sitting like a happy glowing moon in the 'bots chest.  Behind it swirled the void, calm, quiet.  A hot dog, with bun, rested behind it like it was holding the core in place.  And swimming little figure eights below both the core and the hot dog was a beautiful spotted fish.  He didn't know what kind, but it was very pretty.  
  
The core was okay.  But, **_how_**?!  He took in the rest of the robot.  Gone was the body figure.  The form had been replaced with a more human looking creation, soft lines and gentle curves.  Even curly hair atop its head.  But, that's not what he built!  How?!   
  
Compelled, he closed the chest with his good hand, and patted the creature on the head.  It stirred, and blinked clear optics at him.  Awake.  It was alive, awake, and moving.  
  
"Pappy.  You must be my Pappy.  Hello."  It said.   
  
Rabbit cried.  
  
————————-  
  
Rabbit spent the first week after Brassy was finished, just touching everything.  He touched the twin's faces, their sparse hair.  He touched their blankets, and found them to be the best things he had ever touched.  He ran his fingers along Peter's desk, the spines of books, the carpet.  He held the boy's, and enjoyed their warmth and weight.  
  
But as wonderful as this was, work needed to be done.  
  
"Pappy, you really should rest.  You're hurt."  
  
"I ain't got time Goldie.  I g-gotta fix Spine."  
  
"But my core isn't like his."  
  
"Yeah.  But iffn it worked f'ya, it might f'him."  
  
"And if it reacts the same as mine did? You'll get hurt again!"  
  
"Then that's th'price I gotta pay."  Rabbit limped around the workshop.  His right arm was in a sling, tied tightly to his torso so he wouldn't move or bump it.  With much work, he had bent his left leg enough that it didn't hit the ground much, but he could still limp along.  The golden robot was slumped over the plans for The Spine, and gave Rabbit a look.  
  
"You haven't slept since, well.  I don't know.  Not since I woke up, at least.  And you probably didn't sleep making me, did you?"  
  
"I didn't.  Don't matta, I gotta do this."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because m'Pappy told me too."  
  
"I wish I could help more."  Rabbit set down the wrench, and gave him a sad look.  This robot wasn't very useful in the workshop, he found this last week.  He was absent minded, couldn't read, and was very clumsy.  He couldn't be trusted to work on Spine, or even Rabbit, in the work shop.  And he was not allowed to hold Peters the second or third without someone there to watch him.  But that was alright.  Rabbit had built him, and he loved him as he was.  These things would come in time.  Rabbit had to relearn to walk and handle materials and tools.  And was still learning to read.  If Rabbit could do it, then he'd be able to teach the others.  He reached out and touched the curly hair.  
  
Touch, too, was something he was getting used too.  He had studied it some.  The only theory he could come up with was that the blue matter that had exploded out of Goldie's core had infused with the metal on his body, and allowed him to actually feel things.  He had sensors that told him when his boiler was too low, or when he held something too tight.   
  
This was not the same.  This was touching something, and being able to actually feel it.  It appeared that this new robot had the same.  He could feel things.  But had much more understanding of what was "soft"  or "hard"  or "woody."  He had names for these sensations.  Rabbit did not.  So they were both learning.  
  
The problem now, was that summer was coming to a close, and fall and winter were setting in.  The days were getting colder and shorter, and Peter the Second had come down with a cold.  Meaning, of course, that his brother, Peter the Third, got one too.  They were too young.  They were born too early.  They could not keep themselves warm.   
  
And Sandra was not their nanny.  
  
So he kept them in the workshop.  Where it was warm.  And where he could watch them.  
  
It took him two months to give up on Spine again.  Brassy kept the twins entertained.  He wasn't allowed to pick them up, and wasn't allowed to take them anywhere.  But he played with them, and sang them songs he came up with off the top of his head.  He played the phonograph.  And when Rabbit put down the screwdriver and cried because he couldn't get Spine to work, he hugged his father, and told him it would be alright.  
  
"I gotta make ya br-br-brova now."  Rabbit sighed after a moment, and pushed Brassy away before even his tears were finished falling.  He couldn't get Spine to work.  Why? He patted Goldie on the head, and went to work on the barely-taken apart stove in the corner.  
  
————————-  
  
"Pappy Pappy lookit what I made!"  
  
"That's lovely Brassy.  Ya did a good job."  He gave a good long look at the tenth "art piece"  that was drawn that hour.  He cared.  He really did.   
  
But he was tired.  
  
A year.  He had been home from that god awful war almost a year now.  The Twins had been born almost a year ago.   
  
Every day, Rabbit would bring the boy's to Sandra.  Who was helping to teach them how to eat.  Not something he could teach them, as he didn't know how to eat in the first place.  Then he would meet with Munchin, and go over paperwork.  He needed to become a person.  It was important.  He had to find a way to keep the house, keep the children, keep the robots.  He didn't technically own them.  But if he could at least find a way to legally maintain "ownership"  of the house until Peter the Second was of age.  
  
Then so be it.   
  
Once that was done, there was care of the house itself.  He had to figure out food for Jeremy and Sandra, and now the twins.  He had given book balancing to Jeremy, as numbers were still something he was learning.  Still yet after that was taking care of the boys again.  They were getting older, they had more care to be taken.  And they were, yet again, sick.  It was December now.  And the winds and the rains and the cold had done their number on the boys.   
  
Then there was Brassy, who needed him as a father.  There was Spine.  There was building the last robot.  There was caring for this, for that, for everything else.  For someone only a year and some old, it was a lot of work.  Since Iris had woken up on the couch all those months ago, Rabbit had not slept.  He didn't count being knocked out by the core.   
  
That wasn't exactly restful.   
  
"Tack it up t'th'wall.  A'right?"  
  
"Thank you Pappy!"  Goldie did as he was told, and used a tack to put it on the wall with all his other drawings.  Rabbit turned back to his work.  The last robot was almost done.  He was in one piece, he just needed a few more touches, and a core.   
  
"Sir?"  Jeremy was at the top of the stairs.  "I need to speak with your concerning my wages."  
  
"Yeah yeah.  Whateva ya think is best, Germy."   
  
"Sir."  
  
"Pappy I'm outta paper!"  
  
"Uh.  Have have have ya tried th' drawer?"  
  
"Uh-huh.  There's none there!"  
  
"Upstairs, in th'st-study."  
  
"But the twins are crying."  
  
"I know.  I can hear them."  
  
"Rabbit? I'm going into town, can you call Jeremy to drive me?"  
  
The boys were crying.  Brassy was poking him in the side.  Sandra was asking questions.  There was a portion of this plan he wasn't understanding.  The robot was almost done, but he couldn't read this portion!  He wanted to be able to read and write but he was stuck.  Stuck stuck stuck!   
  
They were crying, they were sick.  Sandra had been stuck inside because it had been raining.  Brassy needed paper.  Spine didn't work.  There were papers needing his attention.  Time.  Time time time time.  He needed more hours in a day and they just weren't there!  He was so tired, he needed sleep.  He hadn't slept in so so long.  But work.  He had to finish his work.  
  
Pappy said he could rest when his work was done.   
  
"Pappy.  They're crying.  Pappy.  Pappy?"  
  
"Rabbit."  
  
"ENOUGH!"  Rabbit had had it.  He was tired.  He hadn't had a moment to sit, to be by himself, to think, in months.  He just wanted a moment of quiet.  He wanted a moment of alone time.  When he wasn't working with everyone else, he was working on this last robot.  And with everyone asleep, he got work done.  But even then, there was no rest.  There was no Rabbit time.  There was everyone else time.   
  
Just one moment.  That's all he asked.  
  
One moment.  
  
The room went quiet.  Rabbit sighed, and pressed his good hand against the edge of the table, and let the table take his weight as he hung his head.  
  
He shouldn't have snapped.  He knew that.  He wished he could take it back.  
  
"Sorry.  Just.  One one atta time.  Sandra?"  
  
"I'm.  I'm going into town."  
  
"A'right.  I'll have d-dinna on th'table by six."  He couldn't eat.  But he could cook.  He did, quite often.  Jeremy wasn't a kitchen maid, after all.  Neither was Sandra.  So, someone had to make it.   
  
"Alright.  Thank you."  
  
"Uh-huh.  Brassy?"  
  
"I'm out of paper."   
  
"Upstairs.  Th'bottom drawer in m'study."  His study.  When had it changed from Pappy's study to his own?  
  
Jeremy was nowhere to be found.  Alright, good, okay.  Now, the boys.  Rabbit stared down at them.  They were thin.  They were sick.  They didn't get enough sunlight, because he had to watch them, and he had to work downstairs.  They needed care.   
  
Maybe he should have...  
  
No.  No he could take care of them himself.  He could!  So he picked up one, gently gently shifted Two up to his elbow, and then picked up Three.  Picking up one, let alone two, babies with only one hand was harder that Rabbit liked to admit.  But he did it.  And he held them to his chest, his boiler, where they were warm.  They settled, their sickly eyes gazed up at him, asking for his help.  
  
He couldn't give them any.  If he took them to the doctor, they'd be taken away.  He couldn't let that happen.  He couldn't.  He'd take care of them.  Somehow.   
  
————————-  
  
It was midnight.  He was so tired.  A year and a month since he had returned home, a year and a month since he last slept.  And he was almost done.   
  
The robot was in once piece.  He just needed to awaken its core.  Much more careful this time.  He wasn't going to let it explode.  He wasn't going to rush.  He had begged Sandra to take the twins tonight.  He had begged Brassy to watch Spine tonight.  He wanted no one else to be hurt if anything went wrong.  He had to get it just right.   
  
So he had his goggles in place.  The generator was running.  And it was NOT set all the way up.  It was, however, set slightly higher than when he powered on Spine.  
  
He set the arc to the wire.  And waited.  
  
Nothing.  
  
A touch higher.  Arc to wire.  
  
Nothing.  
  
A touch higher, each time he noted just how high he put the wielder.  Arc.  Wire.  
  
A spark!  
  
Rabbit let out the breath he had been holding.  It was working!  He lifted his goggles and turned off the arc, eyes watching the small light grow.  It branched out along the Blue Matter, like a tree starting to sprout.  Branches formed, and then...  
  
Faded.  
  
"NO NO NO!"  Rabbit tossed the wielding rod aside, and grabbed the edges of the 'bots chest.  "NO!"   
  
The living Blue Matter was fading.  Already.  It hadn't spread to the rest of the core.  The spark was dying.  No.  No he had to do something!  Anything!  He thought, hard.  He couldn't pass another spark, the matter around the exposed wire ends was already dead.  The oscillator wasn't oscillating.  It wasn't churning the mixture.   
  
An idea came to him.  If the oscillator needed power, he'd give it power.  
  
So he undid the latch on his chest, and popped open his plating.  It just needed a little power, and it ran off Blue Matter.  So, if it came into contact with some...  He hesitated, and glanced at the dark eyes of the stove robot.  Yes.  This had to be done.  
  
He undid the cage around his core, and took the ball of Blue Matter into his hand.  Gently, carefully, he pushed the weird feeling of "My core is outside my body this is nOT OKAY!"  away, and held the cores together.   
  
The little machine at the bottom of the new core twitched.  It skittered, and stopped.  Then it started to spin.  The Blue Matter around it started to feed.  There was a strange sucking sensation, and the matter that was not yet alive began to draw power from Rabbit's core.  
  
It wasn't right.  But it wasn't wrong.  He felt funny, and it wasn't comfortable.  But a weird little need to give all he could made him hold his hand steady.  The core fed off his own, and the oscillator kept spinning and swirling and soon enough, the new core was glowing a faint, but even blue.  
  
And Rabbit couldn't stop.   
  
He couldn't pull away.  The core was okay, it was fine, it would live.  But he couldn't free himself from the need to give _give **give**_.  So he stayed still, even as his leg began to wobble, even as his vision started to flicker.  
  
His own core was becoming dim, his power being sucked away by the new one.   
  
"S-sss.  Stop."  He tried.  But he knew it wouldn't do anything.  His eyes were falling, his world spinning.  He couldn't stay powered on, he was losing the strength.  
  
A strong hand grabbed his wrist, and pushed him away.  He looked up, and his leg gave.  
  
Something caught him.  
  
"It's alright Papa.  Sleep."  
  
Rabbit's eyes slipped closed as he felt himself be lowered to the floor, and before he even hit it, he was unconscious.   
  
————————-  
  
Rabbit's optic shutters glitched and twitched, and creaked open.  He felt sick, weak, and confused.  Where was he?  
  
It took several minutes for his receptors to focus.  There was light splashed across the ceiling.  A nice ceiling, high vaulted, wooden beams.  Pappy's bedroom.  Why was he here?  
  
Wait.  Where had he been last?  
  
He remembered talking to Sandra.  He remembered asking her to watch Peter and Peter.  He remembered talking to Goldie about taking care of Spine.  He remembered putting the core into the cage in the stove's chest.  
  
After that, it was a bit of a blur.  
  
"He's up!  Hey everyone, he's awake!"  
  
Huh? His head was heavy, so heavy.  But it turned after some work, and found Goldie at the door to the room.  What? What happened?  
  
Sandra appeared at the bedside, with the twins and Spine and Goldie and...  the stove robot? How? The core, did the core get finished? Wait, when had they all appeared, they had JUST been called for.  
  
"Oh he's awake again!  See told you he was waking up."  
  
"Welcome back t'the world of the living.  We were wondering if you were ever going t'wake up.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Huh what?"  
  
"What happened?"   
  
"You created me, Papa."  The stove spoke up.  Rabbit was caught off guard by the mechanical voice.  Brassy didn't sound mechanical!  Wait, how?  
  
"Huh?"  
  
The stove-turned-robot explained what he knew.  Of waking up to his first sight being Rabbit.  How he felt the raw power coming from Rabbit's core.  How he watched Rabbit falter and his first reaction was to stop the transfer of energy.  He had caught Rabbit and eased him to the ground so he would not be hurt.  He took Rabbit's core from the clenched copper fingers, and rested it inside his chest without any real idea where it was supposed to go.  He just needed it safe.  
  
He had gone up to get help.  Had found Brassy.  And the two of them had carried Rabbit up to Peter the First's old room.  Sandra had been the one to help them re-insert the dim core into the cage it belonged in.   
  
The blue was so faint, and Rabbit so still.  They thought, maybe, he wouldn't wake up.   
  
But he did.  He was awake now.  And his core was starting to shine brighter.   
  
"Ya needed th'rest."  Sandra admitted, when it was her turn to watch him.  They had all been taking shifts to see if he would be alright.  "Since I got heres, I don't think I ever saw ya sleep none.  An' no.  I do NOT count when ya made th'brass one."  Rabbit snickered at that.  He didn't count it either.  
  
"Sleep.  Real sleep.  I know ya need, it, 'cause th'othas need it."  Rabbit thanked her, and drifted off.  Sandra bit her lip.  The good news, Rabbit was alive.  The bad news, well.  She'd tell him when he was back on his feet.  


End file.
